Immigration Article of the Day: “Human Trafficking in Western Europe: A Comparative Public Opinion Study of Fifteen Nations” by YULIYA TVERDOVA

“Human Trafficking in Western Europe: A Comparative Public Opinion Study of Fifteen Nations” YULIYA TVERDOVA, University of California, Irvine. ABSTRACT: Academic interest in human trafficking has been surging in the past decade. Empirical studies of the problem are still scarce and non-systematic. In the present manuscript, I explore public opinion about human trafficking in 15 West European democracies, which, for the most part, are final destinations for the trafficking victims. How aware of the issue are the publics of these countries? How concerned are they? What are the sources of their anxiety about human trafficking? I attempt to answer these questions by investigating individual- and system-level factors that could drive public concerns. The findings suggest that attitudes towards immigration and gender play a significant role for individual sentiments about trade in persons. Among national variables, a country’s wealth and certain legislative efforts to combat human trafficking explain some variation in the dependent variable.

KJ